Even after so many years of living in France, I can’t help but be drawn to the parfum d’antan, that ephemeral feeling of the past, one often wafting around me like the scent trail left behind by a beautiful woman. My eye roves towards that sense of time worn, time known.
It is little wonder why I am so taken by such beauty. Only those that are born here seem to be oblivious to it. And yet I wonder if all of this past pulls me by the arms at times, holding me back. My Sister is visiting. One of the fascinating aspects of seeing family members after an absence is that the changes in them stand out as if drawn in bright colors. Robin has been working hard on herself and seems so less caught by the cobwebs of the past than before. She stands clear in the present with an open face towards the future.
So best then to appreciate the past with its style and substance without letting it take roots within. To linger in the parfum d’antan without getting caught under its spell…
Bon weekend!
PS. As I was about to hit publish, I had a lovely surprise from my friend Virginia in Melbourne. She is a talented and successful designer and yet shares her world generously in her incredible blog, Glamour Drops. Today’s post involves me and our friendship. And while the French have taught me not to say thank you for a thank you, what she wrote is just too beautiful not to acknowledge. And it also is very similar in its way to what I have been pondering here. So far away and yet on the same wave-length. There is nothing old-fashioned about that. Friendship lives out of time, doesn’t it?
Ha!! And the new house sounds positively fabulous. I love the idea of all that art and that you have room for it all!
Oh, Judith (for those who don't know?…Judith interviewed me quite patiently a few months ago)……the only reason I address Heather Robinson s "Miss Heather" is her continued obstinance in regard to partaking of the delights and spiritual joys of The Blessed Sacrament of Marriage as administered by the Succouring Prelates of Our One & Only True Mother Church.
Come to think of it, though….neither have I.
So, you can call me "Miss" anytime you please.
Advisedly yours as ever,
David Terry
http://www.TheLadyPrefersToRemainNameless.org
Hi Heather,
Such a lovely image "the parfum d'antan, that ephemeral feeling of the past, one often wafting around me like the scent trail left behind by a beautiful woman." I love the well-worn details big and small in this post.
Speaking of the past, David's referring to you as "Miss Heather" reminds me so much of the dad of my best friend in high school. He was from Georgia and used call me "Miss Judy" or "Judy gal." His self-proclaimed moniker was "the old grouch."
And the past keeps following me. My young man in Morocco has been offline this week and I sorely miss him. This is manifest in my dreams where he appears as his three-year old self with bright yellow, banana curls bouncing around on his busy head.
I am so glad you are having a good visit with your sister. And I loved Glamour Drops post about the gloves. How elegant and what a wonderful item to collect!
Hey Miss Heather…..
While your sister's visiting (and I gather that, unfortunately, this isn't something that can happen for you every week), do take the time to cluster around the computer and listen to this song again (my good guess is that you recall it from the late 80's).
I was just listening to this song on a Very Olde mixtape given to me by a Vermont friend years ago at Middlebury (yes, I still have cassette tapes, in addition to about 1000 CD's…..a hopeless music-junkie if there ever was one)….and I thought of your posting, your sister's visit, etcetera.
I just love (as much as I did when I was 24 and first heard this song) the business of the husband's fondly asking his wife to add a postscript to her long-overdue letter-to-a-longtime-friend….."Leroy says send a picture/Leroy says 'Hello'/Leroy says 'You keep on rockin', girl/Just keep on rockin'……"
That's just….lovely. Brilliant songwriting.
Go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hffcyJ1GAg
Best wishes for a continuedly fine visit with your sister,
David Terry
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Dear "BigLittleWolf",
What a lovely, wise response.
thank you very much for that,
David Terry (who, it now seems, is indeed capable of writing a comment consisting of less than 4096 characters….)